This past week, President Obama announced sanctions against Russia for its brazen attack on the U.S. election process. The President’s order included expelling 35 Russian diplomats and shuttering two Russian compounds, among other actions.

But are the President’s actions—nearly six months after the initial hacks and mere weeks before his presidency ends—enough to slow down […]

This past week, the world was shocked anew by images coming out of the Syrian city of Aleppo. Images streamed across screens of children and families, huddling underground trying to avoid the latest campaign of bombing by the Assad regime. Looking back, I think there are two major mistakes that, if corrected, could have made […]

Last week, I wrote about the different foreign policy issues President-elect Trump will face when he assumes office in January. What I didn’t comment on is the way in which the President-elect will tackle these challenges.

Why did I leave that out? Because at this point, no one is really sure. What the public has […]

As we take a collective deep breath and review the outcome of this long and unfortunately ugly presidential campaign, there are more questions than answers for the U.S. body politic domestically. But one thing is clear: our new President will face a very full inbox over the coming months. Given his lack of experience in […]

This past week has been especially busy from a global affairs standpoint. From the attacks in Nice, to the failed military coup in Turkey and the Republican National Convention, the world of foreign policy has been abuzz.

Donald Trump continued to express his disdain for NATO last week, leading a pack of critics who are calling NATO outdated and obsolete. This criticism was a likely reason behind President Obama’s meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Monday, where Stoltenberg called the alliance “as important as ever,” and Obama echoed these thoughts.

This past week, the Western world once again endured another horrific attack by ISIS in Brussels. These attacks were especially personal to me, having lived in Brussels for several years during my time overseeing NATO. In this instance, location was a key symbolic target for both the West and the Islamic State; Brussels serves as […]

Dean James Stavridis is the 12th leader of The Fletcher School since its founding in 1933. A retired Admiral in the U.S. Navy, he led the NATO Alliance in global operations from 2009 to 2013 as Supreme Allied Commander.